STP, Oplay Promote Financial Inclusion

 Mexican company System of Transfers & Payments (STP) and start-up Oplay have joined forces to encourage the widespread adoption of CoDi, foster greater financial inclusion and improve the digital payment experience for users.

“[S]trategic alliances are key to achieving significant financial inclusion, an acute necessity in our country.  At STP we understand the paradox in which millions of Mexicans are,” said Jaime Márquez, Director of Business Development, STP, pointing to the lack of access to both credit and the ability to build it. “[F]or this reason working in conjunction with companies like Oplay, is beneficial to reduce that financial gap and promote new and better means of payment for users.”

STP, a firm believer in the potential of CoDi, currently provides 1,500 companies in Mexico a connection to the central bank’s SPEI and CoDi services 24/7. So far, CoDi has not lived up to expectations. “During its first year (up to September 2020), 5.1 million bank accounts enrolled, according to official data from Banxico, just about 30 percent of the goal that had been set. Furthermore, the pandemic put the brakes on the implementation of the platform,” said Márquez to MBN. In terms of penetration in terms of use, CoDi stands at between 0.7 and 0.9 percent, according to data from Banxico.

Nevertheless, opportunities such as this alliance create a more optimistic future for payment digitization. Bringing in Mexican fintech startup Oplay into STP’s network represents an important turning point in the universal adoption of CoDi. With this alliance, Oplay will gain access to over 8 million users with the expectation that more than 50 percent of them will eventually take up CoDi.

STP’s technology will enable Oplay to provide its users with unique interbank cable passcodes for each of their movements in real time from the convenience of their smartphones. With CoDi, Oplay customers will receive a message directly from their banking applications and the only required follow-up is opening and accepting the proposed transaction. This added feature allows Oplay to meet new consumer expectations regarding digital financial services; which have really taken off in the last year to include: interbank transfers, international transfers, automatic recurring payments and mobile payments.

“This alliance will allow us to improve the experience of our users, reaching those who are already adopting technology as a daily resource that will allow them to make their transactions in real time, without contact and with complete security," said Carlos Urrutía Orozco, Co-Founder and VP, Oplay.In Mexico’s fintech sector interoperability between financial services is still largely absent, as exemplified by the unmet projections of CoDi’s adoption, but this alliance represents a step in the right direction

Ultimately, in order to meet this market demand, fintech companies will have to work in collaboration and share resources to truly create an inclusive financial ecosystem. Companies should realize that they have a vested interest in the development of such infrastructure since it gives them influence and market competitiveness.